A number of perks relating to the ownership of cats and dogs are also being used to retain that talent.

Businesses that are hoping to appeal to talent in the millennial generation – and to retain them – are starting to offer employees benefits that include pet insurance and other perks that could attract animal owners.

Stifel Equity Research data shows that nearly half the workforce will be made of that generation by 2020.

Employees within this age group present a whole new range of challenges and needs which must be met by employers who want to attract and keep the best among their talent. By 2020, millennials won’t just be a large group of workers. They will be the largest proportion of the workforce and will even move ahead of baby boomers. Equally, by that same year, they will become the largest generation in terms of pet ownership. This can give weight to pet insurance for employee benefits.

As employers seek to find ways to appeal to millennial talent, pet insurance has jumped into the spotlight.

Beyond providing pet health insurance, many companies are also offering owners the ability to bring their dogs and cats to work with them. Other businesses are trying to offer others forms of pet related benefits to their employees in order to make it worthwhile to join their teams and stick with them.

According to the CEO and president of the American Pet Products Association, Bob Vetere, companies are beginning to discover that millennials have different lifestyles and expectations from the working generations that came before them. Those businesses are finding that the ability to bring a pet to work can also come with advantages to the company, such as more focused employees, teams that are more comfortable in the office environment, and the willingness of their workers to stay for extra hours.

The millennial generation sees their dogs and cats as family members with fur. Therefore, it is important to them not to have to sacrifice the comfort, care, or requirements of those animals in order to put in extra time at work. Therefore, by allowing a worker to bring that animal to work and by offering pet insurance, it can greatly benefit both the employee and the company. Among the large companies already allowing employees to bring dogs to work include Google, Etsy, Amazon, Clif Bar, Boa Technology and Petco.